Now, the Maharaja gets a makeover

Air India has appointed an image consultant to help rejuvenate ‘Brand Air India’ and emerge a global airline.

TNN|

Aug 23, 2005, 01.19 AM IST

0Comments

NEW DELHI: The 71-year-old Maharaja of Indian skies is now taking off on a major image building flight. With competition from domestic rivals and international majors growing by the day, Air India has appointed an independent image consultant to help rejuvenate ���Brand Air India��� and emerge a global airline of choice.

The exercise involves revamping every customer touch point, from reservation counters to in-flight entertainment and interiors.

���With Air India fast moving towards acquiring 50 new planes, our fleet would be among the youngest in the world in a year���s time. We are trying to make the brand look young and appealing,��� said a spokesperson.

The airline, he said, has appointed Alia group as a consultant to drive this image change. ���To start with, we have removed the hyphen between Air and India. This will help us appear much higher in the list of airlines shown on a reservation system.

Also, adopted ���Fly Well��� as the catch phrase to be displayed at all customer touch points. Over the next two years, as the new planes join the fleet, a lot more initiatives will be put in place to make,��� the spokesman added.

The primary objective of the corporate image revamp, airline officials said, would be to give a new visual, contemporary look on par with international airline industry.

���We are not trying to make the brand younger. But the effort will definitely be towards making Air

India a newer and more modern brand,��� said Rekha Pamnani Gulati, CEO of DMA Branding, a division of the Alia group.

The new brand team, Gulati said, will also be involved in designing the exteriors and cabin interiors. Besides this, booking offices, passenger interface items will also be redesigned.